Match box



March 31, 1931. P. F; KuR'rl-:N'BACH MATCH Q'x Fild sept. 7, 1929 vI NVEN TOR.

TTORNEYJ' Patented Mar. 31, 1931 PATENT- o FFI'C'E y, rnnsroiv nKURTENBACH, on BRANDT, sourir DAKOTA MATCH BOX Application led September7, 1929. Serial No. 390,983.

The object of this invention is to provide a.container for matches inbulk whereby waste of matches will be prevented and the matches may bewithdrawn whenever desired but only one at a time. The invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawing and resides in certain novelfeatures which will be hereinafter first-fully described and then moreparticularly defined in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure lis a front elevation of a match box or safe embodying theinvention, i

F ig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing theparts arranged as they appear when a match is to be delivered,

' ig. 3 is a similar view showing the parts as they appear after a matchis delivered, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section on the line 4`4 of Fig. 2.

In carrying out the invention, there is provided a base 1 which may beof any preferred material and is of sufficient area to impart stabilityto the device and rest firmly upon any fixed support, as a shelf ortable, as will be understood. Rising from the rear portion of the base 1is a casing, preferably of metal, consisting of a back plate 2 and sideplates 3, a cover 4 being hinged to the side plates at the upper edge ofthe back plate so as to extend over the casing and prevent the ent-ranceof any material which might cause deterioration of the matches. The backplate and side plates may be integrally connected and are nailed orotherwise secured at their lower ends to the side and back edges of thebase. At an intermediate point of the height of the casing, a swingingshelf 5 is mounted therein, said shelf being hinged to and between theside plates immediately adjacent the back plate and adapted to extend,in one position, slightly beyond the front edges of the adjacentportions of the side plates, the front edge of the shelf being formedwith notches 6 and being also turned downwardly to provide a stop lip 7for a purpose which will presently appear. Above the swinging shelf, thecasing forms a hopper for the matches and has its front closed by aplate 8 of glass or other transparentmaterial so that the matches willbe retained above the shelf and a view of the same may be had at anytime to note the quantity of the supply and when replenishment may benecessary. The plate 8 is mounted in a metallic frame bent to provide anupper flange -9 which may enfold the upper edge of the transparentplate, a lower flange 10 to extend under the lower edge ofthe plate,and-vertical bracing strips which it closely against the-back of thetransparent plate so as to vfirmly support the same, and at the ends'ofthe flanges 9 and l0 are formed tongues 12 which are inserted throughslots provided therefor in the sine plates 3 of the casing and then bentaganist said side plates soJ as to be firmly secured thereto. Thematches are fed into the container through the open top of the same andthe cover 4 then swung downwardly to rest on the upper edges of the sideplates, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8, upon reference to which it will alsobe noted that the side edges of the cover are formed with dependingiianges 13 adapted to overhang the side plates and thereby guide thecover to its proper position when closing. f v n It will be readilynoted that an open space isv provided below the shelf 5. Extendingacross the front of this open space is'arock shaft 16 having a key orother form of handle 17 on one end and upon this shaft` in alinementwith the notches 6 of theshelf, are delivery disks 18 so arranged thatthey will-be disposed in vertical planes near the` ends' of the matchesand each provided-in its periph'- ery with a notch 19 in which asinglematch may lit, one wall of the notchfbeing extended to form a lip 20.These disks also are connected by a locking pin 21 which isdisposedeccentrically in the disks and extends parallel with the shaft 16.l/Vithin the lower portion of the hopper are deflectors 22, 23 whichguide the .matches toward the central transverse vertical plane of thedevice. These deflectors are pivotally mounted at their upper ends, thedeiiector 22 immediately below the glass 8 and the deflector 23 at theback of the casing, while their lower edges-normally--rest on the shelf5, as shown in Fig. 3, the matches 24 being held on the shelf betweenthe deflectors.

Normally, the parts are arranged as shown in Fig. 3, in which the shelf5 is only slightly inclined and the front edge of the same projectsunder and beyond the lower edge of the front deflector so that thematches will Vbe retained in the hopper or magazine. l/Vhen a match isto be withdrawn, the handle 1T and the shaft 16 is rotated clockwise sothat the locking pin or rod 21- will be mo-ved rearwardly and downwardlyand permit the shelf to swing downwardly to the position shown in Fig.2, resting at its front edge upon the shaft 16. The peripheries of thedisks bear against the front deflector 22 at the lower edge thereof.rlhe clockwise rotation of the disks brings the notches 19 to a positionwhere they will lie flush with the top of the shelf so that a singlematch may roll into the notches and be supported, as shown in Figs. 1and 2. -As the disks move tothe position shown in Fig. 2, the lips 2Owill lift the deflector 22 and engage one match, pushing the remainingmatches upwardly and rearwardly with the deilector. The deflector 23swings downwardly with the shelf so that the matches cannot pass behindsaid deector but will remain between the deflectors, as shown. 'At thistime, thelocking pin 21 will be at its lowest position, as shown in Fig.2, and the fre-nt edge of the shelf will be supported by the shaft 16.rI`he shaft and disks are now rotated counter-clockwise and the matchengaged in the notches 19 will be carried outwardly and downwardly andeventually will drop from the notches ont-o the base 1, the locking pinor rod 21 being simultaneously carried upwardly to bear against theunder side of the shelf and lift the same so as to return it to itsnormal position shown in Fig. 8, the deflectors swinging to their normalpositions as will be understood. It will be seen at once that when thelocking pin or rod engages the shelf the rotation of the disks will beeventually arrested by the rod or pinimpinging against the stop` lips 7on the shelf. I From the foregoing description, taken in connectionwiththe accompanying drawing, it will be seen that I have provided aneirce'edingly simple and inexpensivel match box or safe in which thematches will be e'ec- Y tually held so that they cannot be scattered andinvite fires with disastrous results. 'When a match is'needed for anypurpose, however, it may be very easily withdrawn from the containerwithout necessitating the handling of more than the one match which isneeded. The transparent front of the magazine enables the user to noteVwhenever the supply of matches must befreplenished,.and the casing maybe ornamented in any desired manner so aste present an attractiveappearance.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A match safe comprising a magazine, a rocking shelf forming a bottomfor the magazine and provided with open-ended slots in its free edgeportion and having its free edge turned downwardly to provide a stoplip, delivery disks rotatably mounted below the shelf and passingthrough the open-ended slots therein, said disks being provided withperipheral notches to receive a single match vfrom the shelf, and a stoppin carried by the disks to bear against Vthe under side of the shelfand normally support the same in nond'elivery position and to engage thestop lip of the shelf to limit the delivery movement of the disks.

V2. A match safe comprising a magazine, a rocking shelf forming a bottomfor the magazine, deflectors pivoted in the magazine with their loweredges resting normally on the shelf, and rocking matchengaging elementsnormally bearing against the front deflector to' swing the sameandharranged to take a single match from the shelf. I ,l

3. A match safe comprising a,magazine,a rocking shelf forming' a bottomfor the mag*- azine, a pivoted deflectonwithinlthe magazine normallybearingon theshelf, rocking match-engaging Aelements to receive as'inglematch from the shelf, and means Awhereby when the match-engagingelements are rocked the deiiector Iwill be rocked to push. the matchesrearwardlyand the .shelf will be lowered to deliver a single match tosaid elements. l

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature. PRESTON F. KURTENBACH. [1..s]

